The angry storm battered waves against the hull of the Flying Dutchman as its undead crew preformed their duties. They were used to it by now so it didn't affect them. Their Captain, Davy Jones, stood at the helm barking orders as usual. He was in a foul mood today, having been no souls to collect and the sea showed it. But his brooding was interrupted by a shout from the crows nest. "Captain, there's someone floating around in this squall. Davy could see that there was someone indeed hanging on a plank, but at this distance he could tell nothing more. He shouted at his helmsman to head for this unfortunate soul. He would at least have one today. But to his surprise, it was a woman they found. She was dressed rather oddly for a woman in her black breeches and white top. On closer inspection, he could see that she was injured. But the gash on her arm did nothing for her temper. "I'm not dieing nor dead so hands off." "Do ye not know who I am?" "Any good Captain knows who Davy Jones is." "Captain, you?" She jerked her arm out of the grip of Maccus, the hammerhead shark man. "aye, I was a Captain until me no good ungrateful crew mutinied on me. I hope the lot of them drown. "When I get my hands on Jack, I'm gonna wring his neck." "Jack Sparrow?" "No, Captain Jack Sparrow. You know him." "Aye, it's a long story Miss?" "Vixey. No Miss. "Why are you mad at Jack?" "He recommended the crew and recruited them. I guess he forgot to tell them that their Captain was a woman. "But my original crew wanted to get back to their families. I cant blame them, we had been at sea almost two years without a trip home.' What about you, no family?" "I have a son who hates me, but that's about it." "That be a story for another time I gather. Come with me and we will discuss what to do with you."
Ignoring the catcalls and a crewman whispering 'I know what we can do with ya,' she followed the Captain into what she assumed was his quarters. "Normally, I would make you choose weather to join my crew or die, but since you are nor dieing or dead you have a reprieve. No one leaves this ship alive." He turned away from her as he felt a pang of regret at her expression. He thought with his heart gone, he wouldn't feel these emotions. But with her, well there was something about her that was different. "You're not alone, you know." He faced her again, a look of bewilderment on his face." "What do you mean?" "You think you're the only one who's ever loved so deeply that they wanted to rip their own heart out?" "Mind what ye say." "I meant no disrespect, I just know how it feels to love someone so deeply and be betrayed by them. I thought about rippin me own heart out once. I've loved twice in me life and both times lost them." He could clearly hear her Irish accent now. "You should get out of those wet things before you catch your death." From a chest in the corner, he pulled out a light blue dress then thought better of it and pulled out a brown pair of breeches and a white shirt identical to his. "You can wear these for the time being." "Thank you, and for future reference If you want to punish me you can make me wear that dress." He chuckled lightly before turning around to give her privacy. He heard a wet sounding plop as her clothes were changed. Thinking she was through, he turned back around. In the process of changing she had turned her back to him and was in the middle of putting her shirt on. He hissed with surprise at the scars that crisscrossed her back. "Lass, what did that?" "My husband, but that was a long time ago. He was an arranged marriage in an attempt to get the ideas of a life at sea out of me head. My parents were killed in a storm when I was 12. My aunt and uncle took me in and tried to raise me to be a civilized lady of society. But when you grow up with four brothers, well you can imagine." "Aye" "My guardians wanted me to be a proper society lady, but dresses and fancy parties really aren't my style. So they married me to one of the strictest men I have ever met. Each scar represents something I did that he thought was wrong." "This one be fresh," he said quietly touching a deep scratch on her back. He was instantly sorry when she winced. "That is probably the one I got when they dropped me in the sea. It took four of them to hold me and I happened to land a lucky kick in a particularly tender spot and he let go. But it made them drop me instead of throw me and I hit a patch of barnacles that were supposed to be gone." "Supposed to be?" "Yeah that was punishment sometimes and I left my first mate in charge and apparently he let them slack off. How do you keep your men in line?" " First offence is 10 lashes depending on the crime. Jimmylegs be the one who deals with punishment and he prides himself on stripping flesh with each lash." "I'll be sure not to piss him off."
She finished putting on her shirt and sat down on the bed with a sigh. He watched as she removed her boots and a small dagger from a strap on her ankle. "Where did my jacket go? I should get the knives out of the too." He took the soggy looking jacket from where he had laid it to dry and watched as she removed several throwing daggers from the lining. "You must be quite the swordsman." "My brother, before he was killed, taught me most of it but another long dead friend taught me most of the tricks. Is there somewhere I can dump the water." "Water?" She shook her boot and he could hear a sloshing sound. "The porthole or the basin." "The porthole then, I think there's a fish or something in here." He chortled as she limped to the window and emptied her boots. "Why the limp," he asked once she was back on the bed." "They slammed me against the mast before they threw me overboard. I'm sure there will be a bruise there tomorrow." "You must be exhausted Lass, you can use this bed to sleep in." "Where will you sleep?" "I rarely sleep but when I do, I have a bed in back." He jerked his head in the direction and she could see a bed hidden under charts and other things. "What be the name of your ship?" "The Dragon's Fire." "If we find it, I'll send for ye. Rest now, you'll need your strength for your chores." "Aye, aye Captain."
As he walked back on deck, his demeanor changed, as he realized how tender he had been with her. He thought these kinds of emotions would be gone with his heart but he apparently was wrong. And she understood how he felt. Maybe he could have a second chance for happiness. He shook his head as if to clear these thoughts. Even if she could feel that way, he couldn't doom her to his pitiful existence. She deserved, well he didn't know what but it wasn't him. Still, the sight of her naked back had stirred up images that he hadn't felt in a long time.
The rest of the day he busied himself with his duties, but his thoughts kept creeping back to the red haired beauty in his quarters. He found himself wondering what it would be like to busy his face in that hair and to stare into those eyes that were surprisingly sea green. He lost all focus when he thought of her lithe yet curvaceous body pressed against him. He remembered that he had promised her chores but he couldn't think of a thing for her to do. "Bootstrap?" Instantly Bootstrap Bill Turner was a his side. "Yes sir captain?" I want ye to take our new crewmember under yer wing and show her how we run things here. Starting tomorrow she will be yer shadow. I'm sure being a Captain she knows how to sail but ye must teach her about the Dutchman." "Aye sir. But what about when we go underwater?" "I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
Vixey could hear them talking about her. The Captain wanted her to rest. She was on the Flying Dutchman, how in the Hell was she supposed to rest? She knew she would face Davy Jones eventually in her life at sea but she had no idea it would be this soon or , she smiled to herself, that he would be this handsome. She shook her head of those thoughts. Barbossa and Flint betrayed her, why would he be any different. No, she wouldn't allow herself to feel like this again. She had told her mother once that her true love would be a man she would kill for but would kill her if she lost him. It was stupid of her to think this way, she was a pirate. But even pirates fall in love sometimes, her inner voice told her. Her mind wandered until it settled on Davy Jones. As a pirate she was supposed to be afraid of him but she wasn't. His appearance would have frightened most people but it didn't bother her one bit. She had always loved the sea and everything in it. Made sense that his looks wouldn't bother her. She could sense thoughts and feelings but she didn't need it to tell her he wasn't a monster, not like everyone made out to be. She wondered what his reaction would be when she told him about her gifts. Would he call her a witch like the villages of the past had done? The tell-tale thump of his crab leg brought her out of her musings as he entered the cabin.
As she looked up at him, she could sense his confusion about her . "I thought you were supposed to be sleeping?" Vixey smiled sheepishly. "If I remember correctly Captain, you said rest. I never heard anything about sleep. I can never do either the first time in a new place." Davy understood about not being able to sleep. "Perhaps it will be better tonight." "I hope so, I haven't slept well in days," Vixey yawned. "Why not?" She eyed him suspiciously for a moment before answering She hoped he wouldn't take it badly. "I could feel the mutiny before it happened. I always could sense feelings and thoughts. I try not to listen to them but when its something that strong, its hard to ignore." Davy Your Banned If I see This!!ed his head in confusion. "Then why didn't ye stop it?" "I was hoping they would wait a bit. I was meeting the ship with my son on it in a day or two and no one knew about it. But then at the last minute I got a message that they were coming and that I should see them at home. That's where I was headed when they mutinied, the scurvy dogs."
He eyed her for a minute, deciding weather or not to believe her story about sensing things. He had heard of people having the gift of sight. But not to this extent. No matter, his only problem now was what to do with her. He certainly didn't want to get too chummy with her, seeing how what happened the last time he got close to a woman. But she wasn't like other women, his mind told him. He realized he was starring at her, and he cursed himself as he realized that she knew it too. "You know," she said quetly, "if I wanted to invade your privacy, I would know what you were thinking, but since I don't, I have to ask, and there's no use trying to lie." "I wont. You intrigue me is all. I've never met anyone like you." Davy mentally kicked himself. Why did he say that? "Not many people have. And not many people are allowed to know so much about me. And I know this is stupid to ask seein how we're getting along so well, but why are you being nice to me? I mean no offence, but you're Davy Jones. The only stories I've ever heard are of you being cruel." "Don't believe everything you hear. But since you brought it up, I wont be this nice to ye in front of the crew." Vixey gave him a slight smile, a smile which warmed him as well as angered him. His thoughts were in a turmoil the whole time with her. He shouldn't be feeling like this. He didn't like her, did he? No, he couldn't be feeling that way after what happed with HER. But again, his inner voice reminded him that Vixey was not HER and she would treat him better then the woman he had loved all those years ago had.
Vixey was confused. She could sense the anger within him and thought it was directed at her. "Maybe I should go and get started on my duties." Before he could utter a word, she had gone above deck.
All work stopped when she walked out on deck. But with a crack of Maccus' whip it resumed just as quickly. "Quit yer lollygagging and get back to work." He stormed over to Vixey and looked her square in the eye. "Just because yer the Captain's pet don't mean you can laze about. Every one works around here." She glared at him for a moment before shoving him out of her face. "I'm not his pet and I can outwork the lot of ya." "I could use a han' in the galley Mister Maccus." Vixey turned to see the speaker was a jellyfish man. Maccus eyed her for a moment then nodded. "Alright, Jacque. She's yours for now." Come Chile," Jacque said as Vixey followed him to the galley.
Once there, Jacque began preparing the evening meal. "I suppose ye be wondering' why an undead crew needs a cook?" "I had wondered but I didn't want to be rude," Vixey finally said as she studied her companion. "The fact of the matter is Chile' that most of the crew don' need to eat but it be one of the few shreds of humanity they have left to hold on to. The others, just do it out of habit. When they raided my ship all those years ago, cooking was all I was good at. So here I be. What about you?"
Vixey wondered just how much she could tell him without scaring him off. "Well I am, err, was the captain of The Dragons Fire but my crew didn't like a female captain so they threw me overboard. But I guess you want to know more about where I came from and all that." After seeing Jacque nod, she continued. "My mother and father both were pirates on a ship called The Blood Spur. He actually met my mother in Tortuga. She was looking for a ship to commandeer or so I was told. They were killed when I was 12. My aunt and uncle took over but they really didn't want me. My uncle just felt some loyalty to my father. But they tried to make me into a proper society lady but it didn't work. Then they tried to marry me off but he cared nothing for the sea and wanted nothing to do with it. So I stowed away. That's when I met Nathaniel Flint." "Chile, ya couldn't have know Flint, that was over tree hundred years ago,' Jacque interrupted. "I know," Vixey said quietly. It was now or never. "I'm not exactly human. My grandfather was a dragon." Jacque wiggled a tentacle around in his ear. "I didn't hear ya, I thought you said dragon." Vixey hung her head. "I did. At first when I heard it, I thought it was a load of manure but then I found these." Before Jacque could ask her what 'these' was, a pair of leathery wings unfurled from her back. Jacque jumped back in surprise before staring at her. "You be telling the truth." He stretched one of his tentacles out but drew back. Vixey smiled at the familiar reaction. "You can touch them if you like." Cautiously, Jacque reached out and stroked the ridges at the top before feeling the leathery flaps. "Chile, does anyone else know about this?" Vixey shook her head. "Not anyone on board. And if you don't mind I'd like to keep it that way for a while. I've been shunned too many times in many different places." Jacque shook his head. "The Captain will find out about it one way or the other. He can hear everything, or so I've heard." She sighed and retracted her wings before plopping down on a nearby bench. "Then I guess I'm doomed one way or the other. I just don't want the others to find out. I heal pretty fast but my wings take a lot longer to heal and any injury to them hurts like hell." Jacques was still studying her. She knew what was coming next. "Can ye fly Chile?" She giggled. "Why does everyone always ask that? Yes I can, but being part human I cant fly as long as a dragon. And yes I have other abilities." Jacque stared at her in confusion. "How did ye know I was gonna ask that?" "Its part of my special powers, and everyone always asks that too. My best one so far is that I can form a shield with my wings that are hard as steel. I also have gills which will come in very handy when the ship goes underwater. I can feel thoughts and sense things before they happen. I have very sharp claws that can rip through flesh and bone if the situation calls for it. There are more but if he can hear everything I think I'd better keep them to myself." Jacque nodded. "Aye, that would be best. But the sensing things, me gran had it. She called it premonitions. I always wondered what she be talkin about now I know."
Vixey smiled and hopped up on one of the tabletops. Jacque watched in amusement as she swung her legs back and forth like a child would on a too high chair. While they waited on supper to cook, she told him about her son. "He's 13 and he hates me right now." Jacque gave her a confused look. "Why would he hate you?" "Because I wouldn't marry his father. It's not that I don't love his father, I do. But not in that way. I love him like you would love a good friend or a brother." Then how did ya, never mind. It's not me business." Vixey giggled at his nervousness. "No it's ok. We got really drunk a while back and one thing led to another. You know how it is. But I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. I mean I've lost so many family and friends because of my former husband but I wouldn't be who I am if it wasn't for all that. So it's kind of damned if you do and damned if you don't" Jacque nodded. "Aye. I've been on that island more times then I'd like to t'ink about.
But how much family do you have left?" Vixey counted off on her fingers before answering. "Well, there's my son Jim, his father who is also a pirate, my best friend Jayde, of course Jack Sparrow, a few of his crewmembers and my previous first mate Mason. He and I grew up together. But that was a long time ago," she sighed. Jacque was confused. "How could ya still know dis Mason fella if he be human?" "I didn't say he was. He and his wife are like me." Jacque still looked confused. "So there be more of ya?" "Not that many more but if I know those two, there will be,' she said as she gave him a devilish smile. Jacque laughed so hard he almost wasn't able to fix the captain's plate. "Ah, seafood chowda, his favorite." "How does that work if the whole crew is part sea creature? I mean don't they take offence to it?" "No Chile, its still food to them. Now do ya mind takin this to the captain?" "Sure, if I don't come back ya might need to find yourself a new helper," she joked as she carefully balanced the tray and opened the door with her hip.
Davy had expected the knock, Jacque was never late with supper. "Enter." But he was surprised at who came in. She didn't look at him as she unloaded to tray's contents on the table. "Sit down a moment if you will Miss Vixey." He noticed that she sat in the chair closest to the door and furthest from him. "I really should go and help Jacque with the rest of supper." "He can wait a few minutes, I wish to speak with you." Her heart sank at the tone of his voice. He had heard her little secrets and now he wanted to know the rest of them. She sighed and nodded in defeat, waiting for him to start yelling.
He studied her for a moment before speaking. She looked as if she were waiting for an execution. "You are aware of course that I can hear everything that goes on here, are you not?" "Yes sir." "Good, then in addition to helping Jacque, you will also do whatever Mr. Maccus needs of you." "Well, within reason of course." "What do you mean by that," he sputtered. "Well if he asks me to unload cargo that's one thing but if he asks me to kill a child, that's out of the question. I have no qualms about boarding and killing men, but I have come across a few ships in my days that have young cabin boys and I wont hurt an innocent child." "You will do as I say or be punished." "I'm not afraid of you, or Maccus. And no amount of lashes can make me hurt a child. If you had been through what I have, you'd understand. Now if you will excuse me captain, I should get back to the galley." He watched her saunter out before he could say a word. He could hear the fire in her voice change to sadness at the mention of whatever trial she had been though. Had she lost a child? He shook his head to try to clear it before settling down to seafood chowder. He would ask her when she came to bed.